Language needs in Polish juvenile proceedings from the perspective of a court-appointed probation officer’s diagnosis

Abstract

The objective of this article is to delineate and analyze circumstances in which the identification of language needs as well as language and communication difficulties in juvenile proceedings proves essential for safeguarding the rights of the child within judicial processes. The absence of adequate diagnosis in this area contributes not only to exclusion in communicative and formal-legal domains but also, more broadly, to marginalization within the educational and social spheres of minors in conflict with the law. The article is conceptual in character – constituting a contribution to a research project conducted within the framework of an international research program – while simultaneously methodological, as it outlines diagnostically, formally, and methodologically valid procedures and their theoretical grounding in the field of social rehabilitation pedagogy. The adopted research method is document analysis. The empirical material encompasses legal provisions regulating Polish juvenile proceedings as well as selected elements of case studies, which are employed illustratively to substantiate the arguments advanced in the scientific discussion. The findings indicate the absence of legal provisions that explicitly mandate the identification of language needs and communication difficulties during the interrogation of minors or in the course of probation interviews. The article concludes with an attempt to formulate recommendations for probation practice that integrate consideration of these factors as an essential condition for ensuring the effective protection of children’s rights in judicial proceedings.